40 Days Blog - Day 41

Philemon 1:17-25 - Paul's Desire to Come to Philemon

We’ve arrived at that happy stage of life where our children have left home, and we can afford the luxury of a spare room. A room that we always keep ready for guests. Freshly decorated, towels on the rail, bed nicely made up, none of the clutter of our other rooms. To be honest, it also serves as the Christmas Present Room in November and December and the Packing Room for about two weeks before we go away anywhere- but you get the general idea!

Paul’s “one thing more” is a striking request- “prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers” (v22). We’ve mentioned before how Paul cleverly writes his requests to Philemon to get him onside. This final comment puts additional force to the argument- I’m hoping to come and see you soon! We’ve no idea how genuinely Paul thought he might be released from prison to journey to the guest room in Colossae. It certainly seems that Paul never left Rome after writing these Prison Epistles. Of course, neither Paul nor Philemon would know this at the time of writing or reading the letter. I can imagine Paul envisaging the cool, comfortable guest room in Philemon’s villa instead of the discomfort of a Roman prison. And I can imagine Philemon giving rapid instructions to make sure a room was ready for Paul- just in case!

This sense of expectancy is something that should characterises our faith. Jesus told parables about the Ten Bridesmaids expecting the return of the Master (Matthew 25) and taught about the importance of being ready for His return (Luke 12). Paul encourages us to be awake and ready for the return of Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5).

‘Joy to the World’, one of our best-loved Christmas carols contains the line ‘Let every heart prepare Him room’ and this is the note we want to leave of 40 Days of Prayer for 2026 on. I wonder what kind of room we have in our heart for Jesus? Is it a room like the prison where Paul is writing from? Where Jesus is confined, chained up, boxed in, ignored by our busyness or even humiliated by our sin?

Or will the room be the best guest room, ready for Jesus to move into and make His own? Where the presence of Jesus is appreciated and shines out to others? Where we devote our best talents and gifts to making Him feel welcome and worthy of our praise? A room where others can be invited to hear about the Special Guest who lives in our life? A place where Jesus wants to bring salvation, joy, forgiveness, freedom, power and eternal life?

We don’t know whether Paul ever made it to the guest room of Philemon. But we can be sure Jesus wants to stay with you as an honoured guest!

A Prayer

Dear Lord, thank You for the faith that Paul displayed through these Prison Letters. As we draw these thoughts to a close, we pray You would speak to our heart through Your Holy Spirit. Grant that we might welcome Jesus into the very best that we have to offer, and give us the grace to accept the abundant life He longs to offer us. In Jesus’ name.

Amen.

Listen to today's reading and blog post below...

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
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Planning your Visit

A Warm Hello

The following information is specifically for those planning a visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning.

Where and When

The church meets every Sunday at 9.30am at Drumclog and 11am at Avendale.

Sunday worship continues to be live-streamed from Avendale each Sunday at 11am on the Avendale & Drumclog YouTube Channel.

At Drumclog we meet at:
Drumclog Memorial Kirk
Drumclog
South Lanarkshire
ML10 6QG

At Avendale we meet at:
Avendale Old Parish Church
59A Kirk Street
Strathaven
South Lanarkshire
ML10 6LB

For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to ensure you get a parking space and find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it at both Avendale & Drumclog. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up and show you where the disabled toilet is located if required.

Our Service - Drumclog Memorial Kirk

Drumclog

At Drumclog, the service begins at 9.30am with a warm welcome from our Minister, or the person leading the service. During the service we usually sing 2 or 3 songs/hymns. The Minister or a member of the Worship Team will usually read aloud from the Bible and lead the congregation in prayer. This might seem strange the first time you hear it but it’s all part of our connecting with God. The Minister, or person leading the service, will then give a sermon that is Bible based and that we can apply to our everyday life. We then share news and notices, usually about what’s going on in the life of the church.

The service lasts approximately 45 minutes. Sometimes there is an opportunity to receive prayer at the end of the service. After the service we serve refreshments (tea, coffee and biscuits) in our church hall. This is a great way to meet people and enjoy fellowship together. We would love to chat to you there!

Our Service - Avendale Old Parish Church

Avendale Wide

At Avendale, the service begins at 11am with a warm welcome from our Minister, or the person leading the service. Before the service begins, we will show a loop of news and notices on the screens in the church. This is a good way to find out what's going on in the life of the church. During the service we usually sing 3 or 4 songs/hymns, often led by our church praise band 'The Elastic Band'. The Minister or a member of the Worship Team will usually read aloud from the Bible and lead the congregation in prayer. This might seem strange the first time you hear it but it's all part of our connecting with God. The Minister, or person leading the service, will then give a sermon that is Bible based and that we can apply to our everyday life. Throughout the service, we may also show videos on the screens in the church to help us reflect on what is being shared during worship or in the sermon. We then share news and notices, usually about what's going on in the life of the church.

The service last approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. After the service we serve refreshments (tea, coffee and biscuits) in our church hall. This is a great way to meet people and enjoy fellowship together. We would love to chat to you there!

images: Services

What about my kids?

At Avendale, we have a great programme lined up for kids of all ages:

Family Corner - located within the Sanctuary, this is a great place for toddlers and younger children to play, supervised by their parents/carers, who are still able to be part of the congregation
Family Room - a quiet room within the building, for families to watch a live stream of the service, with toys and activities to do with their children
His Kids (5-10 years)
Yoof (11-18 years)

Children stay with their parent or carer at the start of the service for the welcome, songs and short Children's Talk. We really value worshipping God all together as a family. At the end of the Children's Talk, someone will announce that it’s time for the younger members to go to their various groups. You will need to go with your children to their groups and register them as part of our child safety policy the first time you come along to church.

The kids group activities vary depending on the age but usually there is a friendly welcome, Bible stories, testimonies, praying, music, craft, drama, fun games and free play. Please pick your children up as soon as the service finishes.

For more information about what happens in the children's and youth work please visit the Children's Ministry page and/or the Youth Ministry page.

N.B. - there is no children's programme or youth programme during the service at Drumclog.

Getting Connected

Home Groups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our Home Groups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other. We have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week, some afternoons and some evenings. Check out our Home Groups page and see if there’s one that you could join, or we can put you in touch with a Home Group leader who will be more than happy to invite you along to their group. If you would like us to put you in touch with a Home Group leader, please let us know via our Contact Us page.

Serving and Volunteering

If you want to get involved in the life of the church and help us make Sundays run smoothly, you can sign up to serve on a team here.

Other Ministries

We also run the following ministries:

Other Groups in the Avendale & Drumclog Community

The following groups are also part of the life of our church:

Get in touch with us to plan your visit

If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome! Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

Next, we will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.

Leadership


Rev Calum Stark - Minister		David Moreland - Session Clerk

To find out more about our staff and leaders, please visit our Staff & Leadership page.
We hope that whoever you are, you will feel at home at our church.

Best Wishes

Calum Stark - Minister